§
(a) In addition to all other powers and duties now conferred by law upon county
commissions, if a county has been designated as a growth county as that term is
defined in section three, article twenty of this chapter, those county
commissions, upon approval by a majority of the legal votes cast at an election
as provided in section three-nn of this article, are hereby authorized to, as
part of a county-wide zoning ordinance, establish a program for the transfer of
development rights in order to:
(1) Encourage the
preservation of natural resources;
(2) Protect the historic,
scenic, recreational and agricultural qualities of open lands; and
(3) Facilitate orderly
growth and development in the county.
(b) The program for the
transfer of development rights may provide for:
(1) The voluntary transfer
of the development rights permitted on any parcel of land to another parcel of
land for use in accordance with the zoning and subdivision ordinance;
(2) Restricting or
prohibiting further development of the parcel from which development rights are
severed; and
(3) Increasing the density
or intensity of development of the parcel to which such rights are transferred.
(c) The program for the
transfer of development rights shall:
(1) Designate a program for
which development rights may be transferred from any parcel of land to any
other parcel of land for use in accordance with the zoning and subdivision
ordinance;
(2) Provide that any rights
transferred under this section be for a period of ten years and may be renewed
for additional ten year periods; and
(3) Any rights which expire
before being used for development, revert to the
original parcel of land from which the rights were first severed.
(d) The county commission
may not set a price for any development rights that are proposed to be
transferred or received.
(e) "Transferable
development rights" means an interest in real property that constitutes
the right to develop and use property under the zoning ordinance which is made
severable from the parcel to which the interest is appurtenant and transferable
to another parcel of land for development and use in accordance with the zoning
ordinance.
(f) Transferable development
rights may be transferred by deed from the owner of the parcel from which the
development rights are derived and upon the transfer shall vest in the grantee
and be freely alienable.
(g) The zoning ordinance may
provide for:
(1) The method of transfer
of development rights;
(2) Recordation of the date
of each transfer;
(3) The names of the
transferor and transferee;
(4) A description of the
property;
(5) The granting of
easements;
(6) Reasonable regulations
to effect and control transfers and assure compliance with the provisions of
the ordinance; and
(7) Any other information
necessary to administer the program.